Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-08-31
STRANGE MEDICINES.
THE HEALING SPELLS PRAcTicE0
BY BRITISH PeASANTRY.


A Cure for Wart.-Remedies for Wh""p-
Ing Cough-Ague and Toothache-SPi-
ders and Toad. a. Charms Against
Disease-"snake Stories.'
The Nur,humbrian cure for warts is to
take a large snail. rub the wart well with
il and then impale the snail on thorn
hedge. As the creature wastes away the
warts will surely disappear In tho west
of England cells blood serves the same
purpose For goiter or wen, the hand oe
a dead child must he rubhed nine times
across the lump; or, still better, the hand
Of suicide may he substituted
In the vicinity Of S;amfordham. In
Northumberland. wh"oping cough is cured
10y putting the head Of live trout into
the patients mouth and letting the trout
breathe into the latter. Or else a hairy
caterpillar is put into small bag and tied
around the Child's neck. The cough
ceases as the insect dies. Another cure
for whooping cough is offerings Of hair.
In Sunderland the crown of the head is
shaved and the hair hung upon a bush or
tree with the full faith that as the birds
carry away the hair, 81 will the cough
vanish.
In Lincolnshire girl suffering from
the ague cuts n lock of her hair and binds
il around an aspen tree, praying the lat
ter Ia shake in her stead. In Ross shire,
where living cocks are still occasionally
buried As n saeriiicial remedy for epi-
lepsy, some of the hair of the patient ID
generally added To the Offering. At least
one holy well in Ireland that Ot Tubber
Guam requires an offering of hair from
all Christian pilgrims who come here on
the last three Sundays in June 10 worship
St Quan. As a charm against toOt thache,
II Is necessary To 20 thrice around n
neiChboring tree on the bare knees and
then cut Off a lock of hair and tie il to a
branch. The tree thus fringed with hu-
man hair of all colors is curious sight
and an object of deep veneration. The
remedy for "A toothache at Tavistock, in
Devonshire, is TO bite a tooth from a
skull in the churchyard and keep it al
ways in the pocket.
Spiders are largely concerned in the
cure of ague. In Ireland the sufferer is
advised 10 swallow a living spider. In
Somerset and the neighboring counties,
he is To shut a large black spider in box
and leave IL To perish. Even in New
England. a lingering faith in the supersti-
tions Of the mother country leads to the
manufacture Of spider web pills for the
cure of aglle.
In Devonshire. the approved treatment
for scrofula is to dry the hind leg of a
toad and wear it round the neck in a silk
bag: or else TO cut off that part Of the liv-
ing reptile that answers TO the part affect
ed. and, having wrapped the fragment in
parchment, To tie ii round the sufferers
neck. In the same county the "wise
mans remedy for rheumatism is to burn
n toad 10 ashes and tie the dust in a bit Of
silk to be worn round the throat Toads
are made to do service in divers manners
in Cornwall and Northampton for the
cure of nose bleeding and Quinsy; while
toad powder or even live toad or spi-
der. shut up In box, is still in some
places accounted as useful charm against
contagion as II was in the days of Sir
Kenelm Digby, The old smallpox and
dropsy remedy, known as pulvis athiopi-
Gus, was nothing more nor less than pow
dered toad.
Frogs, too, are considered remedial.
Thus, frogs spawn placed in stone jar
and buried for three months till it turn to
water has been considered wonderfully
efficacious in Donegal, when well rubbed
into a rheumatic limb. In Aberdeenshire,
n cure for sore eyes is TO lick the eyes of
live frog. A man thus healed has thence
forth the power of curing all sore eyes by
licking them In like manner, in Ire
land. il is believed that the tongue that
has licked lizard all over will be forever
endowed with the power Of healing what
ever sore or pain it touches.
In some Of the Hebridean Isles, notably
that OF Lewis, the greatest faith prevails
in the efficacy Of perforated water worn
stones. called snake stones These are
dipped into water, which is then given to
cattle as cure for swelling or for snake
bite. II the stone is unattainable the
head of an adder dipped in the water
gives an equally good result.
In Devonshire any person bitten by a
viper is advised to kill the creature at
once and rub the wound with its fat 1t
is said that this practice has survived in
some portions Of the United States, where
the flesh Of the rattlesnake is accounted
the best cure for its own bite Black. in
his Folk Medicine" states that the be
lief in the power of snake skin as a cure
for rheumatism still exists in New Eng
laad. Such belief is probably a direct
heritage from Britain.
In Durham an cells skin worn as a
garter round the naked leg. is considered
preventive of cramp, while in Northum-
berland it is esteemed the best bandage
for a sprained limb.-Nineteenth Century.